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Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Green Pants by Kenneth Kraegel

There is nothing Jameson loves more than green pants. He has a whole closet full of them. Every time he is offered the opportunity to try out a different color of pants, he manages to find creative ways to get rid of them.

When Jameson's cousin Armando and his fiancee Jo ask him to be the ring bearer in their wedding, Jameson must make a difficult choice: wear a tuxedo with BLACK PANTS or don't be in the wedding at all. Whatever will Jameson do?

Green Pants is an absolutely delightful picture book about the ways in which young children attach themselves to beloved objects like a blanket or stuffed animal. In this case, Jameson's love for green pants is not only his source of affection and attachment, but these pants are what give him the chutzpah to be the unique and fun kid that he is. Wearing black pants to a wedding feels like a betrayal of his identity. Jameson's decision is not just about being in a wedding to him. It is an existential crisis for the kindergarten set.

And as an added bonus, you'll never be able to read this book again or look at the cover without singing this song in your head, with an obvious word substitution. This earworm has burrowed itself into my brain ever since I opened the box from Candlewick with the advance copy of this book inside. And now I've burrowed it into yours. You're welcome.

If you want to read the most entertaining review ever to be written about Green Pants, head on over to 100 Scope Notes and read Travis Jonker's review. I mean Travis's Green Pants's review.

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